Colorado Springs, Colorado – On the heels of a number of high profile cyber attacks in the U.S., the National Cybersecurity Center has launched a 50 state initiative to train state leaders on thwarting cyber threats. This past week, the Colonial Pipeline in Georgia was taken down by bad cyber actors, triggering state governments around the country to reassess their cyber preparedness.
Cybersecurity for State Leaders, a nationwide awareness initiative led by the Nation Cybersecurity Center (NCC) and supported by Google, aims to bring best practices in cybersecurity to state lawmakers and their staff in all 50 states — with live virtual events. In addition to the live events that feature state-specific discussions of cybersecurity, leaders will also have access to the training in an on demand, self-paced curriculum available online at any time.
This nonpartisan training curriculum will prepare lawmakers and state government staff to be vigilant against cyber threats by offering a deep dive into: the ecosystem of cybersecurity, common types of cyber attacks, how and why cyber attacks work, and best practices on how to protect individuals against cyber threats. Cybersecurity for State Leaders recently completed their first live training in Montana featuring Governor Greg Gianforte, Montana CISO Andy Hanks, State Senator Pomnichowski & State Representative Holmlund.
“The recent attack on Colonial Pipeline demonstrates once again how vulnerable our lives have become to cybersecurity breaches,” said Mark Weatherford, Chief Strategy Officer at the NCC and former Chief Information Security Officer of California. “The pipeline industry is only one of a number of critical infrastructures that can be exploited just like Colonial, proving once again that no single person, government, or business is immune from cyber threats. The single best thing we as individuals can do is to continuously educate ourselves on the cyber-threat environment to strengthen our security posture. Cybersecurity for State Leaders is an excellent tool for state leaders to guard themselves, their state, their staffs, and their citizens against potential cyber breaches and help protect our democracy.”
Watch the ON DEMAND Cybersecurity for State Leaders Training here: https://cyberforgovleaders.org/register-for-training/.
Cybersecurity for State Leaders also offers on-demand workshops online featuring national cybersecurity leaders in both the public and private sector, including famed cybersecurity executive and Investor on ABC’s Shark Tank and founder and CEO of the Herjavec Group, Robert Herjavec, former State Department Spokesperson and Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs Heather Nauert, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA), former Chief Information Security Officer for the Information Security Division of the U.S. Small Business Administration James Saunders, Meredith Griffanti of FTI Consulting, representatives from Google, IBM, Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, and more.
For more information on Cybersecurity for State Leaders, visit https://cyberforgovleaders.org/.
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The National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) is a non-profit organization established for cyber innovation and awareness. Established in 2016 from the vision of United States Senator from Colorado John Hickenlooper, in coordination with several people from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the community, the NCC serves both public and private organizations and individuals through training, education and research. Discover NCC at https://cyber-center.org/.